Major League Soccer's 2008 MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto plays "a graceful game, full of nuance and surprise," writes Shawn Mitchell. "A touch just so on a free kick. A dribble through a gaggle of defenders, off-kilter and off-balance, that ends how it started: Schelotto, head up, searching the field for the best way to get the ball into the opposing net."

Yet after two seasons at the Columbus Crew following a storied career in his homeland with Boca Juniors, the 35-year-old Argentine playmaker has only one thing in mind as MLS Cup approaches this weekend -- a title. "I came here to help get this team to MLS Cup," Schelotto said. "Not MVP. Not Best XI. I want to win the MLS Cup. It's very important for the team. Maybe the MVP is, too, but MLS Cup is the best."

"You can tell how important winning is to him," said Crew coach Sigi Schmid. "That part of him has really come out this year." His teammates don't care that the designated player earns 10 to 15 times more than they do. "On other teams, the bitterness, the dissension is there," said forward Jason Garey. "It's not like that here."

Schelotto, meanwhile, may stay for another year. "Every time I go to Crew Stadium, the fans are more excited," he said. "I want to stay here. I want to hear the cheers next year."